The Specialist and the Thief
by Gamer of Action44D
Summary: Nathan Drake, that two-bit thief. Winter honestly thought she didn't hate anyone more. So why does she constantly keep finding herself running into this rogue treasure hunter?
1. A Cold Meeting

**I created this Fanfic because of the lack of good Uncharted crossovers. It's such a shame because Uncharted has such amazing characters and gameplay, it's like my fourth favorite video game series ever! It's probably because of lack of Uncharted crossovers, that this fanfic won't be very popular, except for the two followers I have. Now, I believe that Nathan Drake can fit surprisingly well. I ship him with Winter because I don't want to lower his age so the other RWBY girls are legal, and I really like Winter. Rooster Teeth should really utilize her more in the show. And it's pretty fun if you think about it, an adventurous rogue with a cold, rule-abiding soldier. Now I'd really appreciate it if you guys supported this little underdog fic of mine. So on with the show.**

 **Uncharted belongs to Naughty Dog (Notice me senpai!)**

 **RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth (You guys have kinda been phoning it in lately)**

 **(Line Break)**

Winter Schnee liked the cold, it made her feel at home. Not her literal home of course, in fact, she could describe it as feeling at anywhere else but home. The cold made her feel at ease, calm, comfortable even, not like the place her father had taken over and her mother was too drunk to care. But that was unimportant at the moment.

General Ironwood had assigned her on a mission in the snowy mountains of Atlas. There had been reports of a wreckage of an Atlesian military airship that had gone rogue a few years back, she had given a few troops AK-130's and two soldiers, and sent out to salvage the wreckage and secure anything that could endanger to Atlas security.

The bullhead they were all riding docked itself at a clearing that was flat enough to land and take off when ready. She and her squad had been trekking through the harsh winds, looking for any signs of the ship.

"Commander Schnee, look!" One of her soldiers called out. She followed his arm to an icy ravine down below, and in the ravine was a crashed Atlas bullhead.

"Fan out and search the ship," Winter instructed her troops. "Keep your guard up, this is still grimm territory."

Her foot soldiers nodded dutifully and they began their trek down the icy side of the mountain. They failed to notice however, the parked jeep at the side of the ship.

 **(Line Break)**

They scoured the cold metal halls of the ship, coming up with diddly squat. "Commander Schnee, I think we should turn back." Winter's current 'deputy' fretted from behind her. "There's nothing left of this place, grimm tore it to shreds ages ago."

Winter frowned as she marched through the halls, sword drawn. She ignored the scared ramblings of the officer in favor of continuing on to the main deck of the ship. There had to be something there, but something about this ship didn't seem to add up. There were signs of a fight, that was to be expected but these were RECENT. The claw marks and bullet holes on the walls were fresh, and she could have sworn that she caught a glimpse of a grim still disintegrating in a side hallway.

"Seriously, Mam!" The soldier fidgeted, starting to have a small panic attack. "No one else is going to come out here to a useless wrecked ship, let's just get out of here before the grimm find us!"

"You can leave if you want," Winter said, coldly. "But I'm going to finish this mission."

The soldier seemed to consider her words for a moment before he turned tail and ran. "Coward," Winter muttered, harshley under her breath. It didn't matter anyway, she worked best alone, she didn't need anyone else.

She could see the entrance to the main deck at the end of the hallway. If anything important was on this ship, it'd be there. She made her way to the door, it was a bit jammed but she managed to pry it open enough to squeeze through. When she finally made it through she came across a startling sight.

There was already someone on the main deck, someone alive. He was a tanned young man that looked to be in his mid-twenties. His brunette hair was short yet it stook up in a temple fade. He was dressed in what looked like a brown leather parka with a strap over his shoulder which seemed to be holding some sort of assault rifle with a machete blade attached.

But Winter wasn't focused on that, she was focused on what was in his hands. He was currently looking at a stack of large pieces of paper that were previously lying next to what she assumed to be the dead body of the captain.

Winter knew she had to get those papers. If the rogue captain had it with him when the ship went down, who knows what kind of Atlas secrets could be on them. Call her paranoid, but she had a mission.

"Halt," She said in a authoritative voice. "Don't make any sudden moves and slowly turn around."

The man raised his hands up, still holding the papers, and did as she commanded. Now that he was facing Winter, she could see that he had a rather well chiseled face with a bit of a stubble. She didn't let her guard down however, as she still stood with excellent posture, her sword straight and true as it aimed at the man's chest.

Despite being taken by surprise and now having a sword pointed at him, the man seemed rather calm with a slight smirk on his face. "Whoops, sorry," He said in a joking tone. "I was looking for the bathroom on this thing, it's really easy to get lost here."

Winter didn't respond as she stared at him with an icy glare.

The man let his shoulders sag as he dropped his arms and let out a sigh of frustration. "'Course you didn't fall for that." He said in an annoyed tone, as if honestly hoping that would work.

"The papers you are holding are the property of the Atlas Military." Winter said in an even tone, as if rehearsed. "Relinquish the papers to me, and prepare to be brought in for questioning."

The man, in fact, did not relinquish the papers. Instead he replied "Yeah, I would do that if I actually got along with the law, but you see, I don't. And I came a long way out here for these papers," He gestured to the possibly compromising files in his hand, "So I rather just take my leave."

Before Winter could reply, he unhooked a metal spherical object from his belt and tossed it at her. Winter didn't know what it was until she saw the red flashing accompanied by a beeping sound. A dust grenade!

She quickly dived back into the hallway she came from as her original entryway to the deck was engulfed in flames. She growled as her way back in was now blocked off, the man now getting away with the Atlas documents.

"Attention all troops." She spoke into her scroll. "We have an armed perpetrator on the ship. He has important documents, due not hesitate to use force to secure him and the papers."

 **(Line Break)**

Nathan Drake groaned in frustration. Why couldn't things ever be EASY? How come everytime he goes somewhere, he can't just grab what he needs and go? Why does he always have to deal with grimm, or the White Fang, or the Oum damned MILITARY?

He would have continued his griping if he didn't have to suddenly dodge bullets from the AK-130s.

"Crap," He pseudo cursed as he ducked behind an empty metal crate for cover. He felt the bullets bounce of the metal with metallic 'clangs' as the Atlas robots marched forwards.

Nate unstrapped his AK-47-Machete hybrid from his back as he hooked up the ammo clip. He quickly stood up from his cover and pumped hot lead into the machines before ducking back down. He started to reload when he realized that he was running low on dust bullets.

Deciding to be conservative, he strapped his main weapon on his back as he took out his side-arm of a semi-automatic pistol. He launched a few bullets into the heads of a few nearby droids before dodgerolling to the nearest cover.

Underneath new protection, he slowly crawled his way to a few he 'decommissioned' and salvaged their ammo clips.

With enough ammo, he leapt out of his cover and fished the rest of the robots, freeing him from being under anymore fire.

 _That should be all of them._ He thought as he continued his way. Unfortunately, at the end of the hall, the only exit had been blocked off from some fallen rubble and loose wires.

"Great," Nate breathed out as he looked at the damage. _No way I'm getting through there_ He mentally grumbled. _Guess I gotta find another way._

He noticed all the dents and ledges in the wall, they conveniently led to an air vent in the top corner. He climbed onto a few crates and leapt onto the wall where he managed to get a good grip on one of the dents. He then monkeyed his way up to the vent, he forced the grating off then crawled inside.

He navigated through a maze of vents until he came across another grate from above him, blasting cold wind. He pushed against the metal until it popped off. He climbed out and found himself on top of the crashed ship. He peered of to the side and, sure enough, he could spot his jeep at the bottom of the ravine, ready to drive away.

Unfortunately, he didn't see the high-heeled boot as it crashed into his back. Nate tumbled across the icy surface of the ship before he regained his balance and stumbled back up. After regaining his senses, he looked up to see the woman he encountered on the main deck. Her pretty face twisted into a scowl as her white uniform blended in with the surrounding snowstorm, hell, even her hair was white.

"I will not ask again," She stated firmly. "Hand over those papers or I will use force."

"You mean you haven't been using force already?" Nate asked incredulously. "Those bullets could have fooled me."

Instead of gracing him with a reply, the Atlas specialist launched at him with her cutlass drawn. Nate pulled out his weapon, switching it to machete mode. He deflected her blade and stumbled back to regain his footing. This was not good, he only used the machete function to clear a way through certain obstacles, he was never one to use it in combat, unlike the Atlas specialist who seemed to breath sword play.

She leapt at him again, with slashes and thrusts by the dozen. Nate was surprisingly able to keep up, though he was mostly parrying as he backed up, the specialist forcing him to the side of the ship.

Eventually, he couldn't go back anymore as he flailed to regain balance after his foot nearly tripped over the edge.

"You have nowhere to run," the snow-haired woman said, coldly. "One last time, surrender."

Nate kept looking back and forth between his options. Icy ravine, or crazy Atlas lady. Steeling his nerves as he made his choice, he leapt from the ship to the icy depths below with unwavering resolve.

"CRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAP!" Okay, maybe he wavered a little.

Nate braced himself as he smacked against the thick powder and, miraculously, he survived! Nate cracked his eyes open to see himself waist deep in snow. Relieved, he actually laughed at his absurd luck. He was alive! Freezing like hell, but alive! "Heh, heh, I can't believe I wasn't just killed!"

But this was no time to celebrate, he still had a crazy military lady after him. Brushing off his near death experience, he dug himself out of the snow and made his way to his all terrain jeep, the farther away he was from this place, the better.

 **(Line Break)**

Victor Sullivan drew another breath of cigar before blowing out smoke. It'd been a few hours since his partner in crime, Nathan had left to search that Atlas ship and call him soft, he was starting to get worried.

He hoped that this would all pay off in the end. When he heard that the self proclaimed 'Atlas pirate' Jacob Blood had crashed in the mountains and was probably pushing up daisies, he saw it as an opportunity to search the ship to see any clues. Sullivan knew Blood, personally, he worked a couple jobs with with the rogue Atlas captain.

In fact, the last time he saw Blood was just a week before the reported crash. A particular piece of a conversation he had with the pirate had stuck itself inside his head. Blood said that he was searching the find of a lifetime, on the verge of discovering something that could set him and his entire crew for life!

That of course peaked Victor's interest, but he wasn't willing to go low enough to steal someone else's project. But now that Blood was dead, it was winner take all.

So Victor and Nathan booked a flight to mantle, set up base in a cheap motel, and Nate set out first thing in the morning to search the ship.

"Whew," a familiar voice called out as the motel door opened. "What did you do, Sully? Start a bonfire?"

'Sully' grinned with the cigar still in his mouth. "Complain about the smoke all you want, kid. This stuff keeps me going," He chortled in a grizzled voice.

Nate smirked at his old mentor before unzipping his jacket and laying the papers on the motel coffee table. "You were right, Sully, Blood was on to something big. I found all these notes and maps, I've followed them and guess where they lead." Nathan then took a particular folded paper from the stack, he unfolded it into a mini-map of the mountains of Atlas and marked with an X at a particular mountain was labeled.

"Hans Oum damn Christia," Sully awed, the cigar nearly falling out of his mouth.

"The palace of diamonds," Nate established. "Sully, if we can find the palace, we'd be millionaires, hell, BILLIONAIRES!"

Sullivan was practically salivating at the thought. "That's all well and good, kid," Sullivan took the cigar out his mouth to scratch his gray mustache. "But you didn't run into any trouble out there, did ya?"

"Trouble? Nah," Nate waved him off before starting to look sheepish. "But I did have this little skirmish with the military."

"WHAT?" Sullivan nearly choked on smoke.

"Hey, if you ask me, they started it!" Nate defended. "And there was this really crazy Specialist chick-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Sully interrupted. "Specialist? What'd she look like?"

"Uh…" Nate narrowed his eyes, trying to recall. "White hair, blue eyes… You okay, Sully?"

Sully looked as as pale as a ghost. "Kid, I think you just crossed paths with Atlas Spaecialist, Winter Schnee." Nate's jaw dropped at the new revelation as Sullivan tried to calm his oncoming heart attack. "Kid, please tell me you didn't do anything stupid."

Nate raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I didn't do anything, except… maybe… threw a grenade at her."

Sully only stared at him in horror, his cigar falling from his mouth onto the floor.

"She's fine! Her aura protected her," Nate defended. "Look we're probably never gonna see her again, anyway. We just need to find Hans Christia, and we won't have to worry about anything except where to install the hot tub."

Sully sighed as he shook his head. "I hope you know what you're doing, kid. Otherwise, we're both screwed."

 **(Line Break)**

 **So this mostly came to me after I binge played the entire Uncharted series, I may turn it into a full story, I may not. I'm hoping for the former, though. Nate is currently wearing his winter gear from Uncharted 2, with an AK-47 assault rifle with a machete blade attached, the trigger basically switching for a handle when switching modes. Make sure to show your support!**


	2. Mission Debrief

**Hi Ho everyone! I'm back and ready for more! After the surprisingly positive reviews of the first chapter, I am continuing this story. Granted, it is going to take a back seat in comparison to my other stories but I'm just glad to give people out there a good story to read. If you can't find anything good to read or if you don't know where to look, check out my other story Fairy Tail Super Saiyan, it's about as generic as it sounds but I am really trying to deviate from the DB OC norm. I haven't been too successful yet but I would truly appreciate the support. Now I am going to establish something for this fic, it's not just going to be Uncharted and RWBY. I am going to incorporate characters and concepts from other comics and tv shows into it, like RvB. But this will fic be mainly focused on the two categories it is in. Also, for those who are curious, yes, I am going to find some way to involve team RWBY into this story. But it probably won't be for a long time so don't hold your breath. There's a lot I still want to do, also I don't know what Nate's semblance should be. I was thinking of something to do with gold but I'm not sure. If you have any idea of a semblance that matches Nate's adventurous 'devil may care' personality. Feel free to post suggestions of it in your reviews.**

 **If I owned RWBY, I would put in more money for the fighting animation of volume 5, other than that it was fine.**

 **If I owned Uncharted, I would have done absolutely nothing, the series is perfect… What?**

 **(Line Break)**

Winter stood in front of her General with her arms behind her back and her head held high, just like she was taught. On the inside though, she felt absolute shame for letting an unknown adversary get away with vital Atlas papers.

"Schnee," General Ironwood interrupted her thoughts. "Can you describe the man you confronted?" The general was an intimidating man, standing at a height of nearly six feet, wearing the white and gray attire fitting a general with his broad physique. He had combed, short, black hair with grey accenting the sides. On his forehead was a small metal plate right above his right eyebrow, presumably there to hold together some sort of stitch or injury.

"Yes, sir," Winter nodded, dutifully. "Subject had brown hair and blue eyes, stood at average height and above average physique, and was armed with a machete/assault rifle hybrid, specifically the AK-47 model."

The General nodded and turned to one of the computer monitors aboard the airship. "Nicole, see if you can run through the database looking for anyone matching that description."

"Of course, sir," The attendant replied before turning back to her screen to do just that.

Winter waited patiently but something was bugging her in the back of her head. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking," She began as the General turned to her. "What kind of information was on that ship?"

Ironwood was silent for a moment as if contemplating what to tell her. "Tell me, Schnee, have you heard of Hans Christia?"

Winter's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "The palace of diamonds?" She asked. "Surely, sir, you don't believe in such a tail?"

If the General was offended, he didn't show it, he actually looked amused. "A few years ago, I would have been just as skeptical as you are," He shook his head "but due to certain… revelations I have learned that even the craziest of fictions are based on some semblance of reality. After all I've seen, a hidden palace of rocks doesn't seem too far fetched."

Winter nodded, but something was still bothering her. "Understood sir, but why all this effort? No offense, but based on truth or not, legends are still legends, shouldn't we put our resources into something just a bit more realistic?"

The General's expression then became a grim one as he looked at his top specialist. "I want you to look at something, Schnee." The General walked past her to a large screen at the end of the bridge. "Open the file," He commanded another nearby keyboarder.

The employee nodded as he inputted commands into his terminal. Soon, an image appeared on the screen and Winter had to catch herself before gasping out in pure shock. What was shown on the screen was an absolute _massacre._ She recognized it as an Atlas base but the white uniform look of the Atlas Military was stained by the color of blood. All over the ground were the bodies of Atlas soldiers and employees, either beaten to death or completely torn apart into nearly unrecognizable piles of red flesh.

"Was…" Winter paused to swallow the oncoming vomit. "Was it the Grimm? Or the White Fang?" She knew that the peace-turned-terrorist organization hated the Atlas Military more than anyone, but they would never go this far. Yet… All Atlas personnel are trained to defeat all types of Grimm from day one. How could an Atlas base be overrun so easily?

The General shook his head. "Neither, this base was filled with our top soldiers that were assigned to notify us of the slightest chance of a Grimm attack, yet we never even came across any distress signal in the days prior discovering this," He said, gesturing his hand to the screen. "While the Grimm are powerful and plentiful, they will never be discreet enough to slaughter an entire base before we could hear about it," The general rubbed his head in uncertainty. "As for the White Fang, their attacks are usually much more organized than this, and usually carry some sort of message in order to frighten the people. This attack, however, came out of nowhere, was executed mercilessly, and only one thing was taken."

Winter tore her eyes off the screen to look at her General. "What did they take, sir? Dust? Weapons?"

"Information," Ironwood answered. "Our terminals were hacked and all our files on this supposed 'palace of diamonds' were stolen."

Ironwood turned to Winter with a stern look in his eye. "However, this isn't the only one. A multitude of our bases all over the four kingdoms have suffered a fate like this. Every time, it's the same story. Everyone there is slaughtered, all our files on Hans Christia is stolen, and all that's left… is this message." As he finished, another image appeared on the screen, this one was of a bloodstained wall with a single sentence carved into it by a blade.

Winter looked at the message on the screen and felt her mouth go dry. Whatever this _thing_ was… it scared her.

"Sir," Winter was interrupted from her thoughts from the Atlas employee from earlier called out. "I've found someone matching the description." Winter and Ironwood turned to the screen.

"That's him," Winter identified. It was indeed the same man she had encountered on the abandoned ship.

"Subject is Nathan Drake," The attendant reported as she brought up all his information. "May or may not be his actual name. Claims to be the descendant of the famous adventurer Sir Francis Drake."

Winter just rolled her eyes. Who was this 'Nathan Drake' trying to fool? Everyone knew Francis Drake never had any children.

"Subject is charged with eight cases of theft," The Atlas employee continued. "And fourteen cases of trespassing. Served time in a multitude of prisons but never stayed in one place too long." She continued to list things off. "Relationship status: single." She didn't continue at the weird looks her commanding officers were giving her.

"Nicole," Ironwood said with a raised eyebrow. "Why would we need to know about his love life?"

The attendant blushed profusely and started sputtering "W-well sir, i-it's just one of the things that showed up and you asked me and I-I thought… nevermind," She trailed off as she looked down at her keyboard in embarrassment.

"Anyway," The General cleared his throat. "Schnee, I need you to find this Nathan Drake character and recover those files. Whatever is destroying our facilities is obviously chasing after Hans Christia, whatever that reason may be. Our best course of action right now is to find the biggest lead and wait for it to come. Once it comes looking for the palace of diamonds, you will confront it, and neutralize it."

"Of course, sir," Winter nodded, dutifully. She turned towards the big screen again, the message dug into the metal and covered in blood. For some reason, those four words chilled her to her very core.

 _We are the Meta_

 **(Line Break)**

The jeep pulled to a stop in the middle of a frozen field and Nathan Drake quickly hopped out.

"You sure this is the right spot, kid?" Sully called out from the passenger seat. The old man was looking at the map Nate had swiped from the ship. He looked up to observe their surroundings, they were in the middle of a semi-boxed canyon. Nothing to see but snow and pine trees until it ended at the mountain wall and a barren wasteland back the way they came. "'Cause I'm not seeing any castles made of precious ore."

Nathan only snorted as he was checking through all the trees. "Sully, if the Matayas built a palace out of the most precious substance in the world, and then left it out in the open, wouldn't someone else have found it by now?"

Sully groaned as he climbed out of the jeep as well. "Still, why do people always hide away their greatest treasures in the most nonsensical of places? And why do they always leave some big, overcomplicated scavenger hunt for people to find it?"

Nathan shrugged at Sully's complaints. "Maybe they were big believers in the spirit of adventure?"

Sully shook his head as he rubbed his fingers to stay warm. "Well, they could've 'adventured' someplace a bit warmer, like Vacuo. What I would give to be sipping a smoothie on one of their beaches, right now."

Nathan rolled his eyes as he hopped down a hill he had climbed. "Yeah, yeah, just keep up with me, old man."

Sully jogged after the younger treasure hunter. He puffed "Hang on, kid. I'm not as young as-"

"-You used to be. I know." Nathan cut him off. "You've somehow managed to take a redundant saying, and make it even more redundant with how much you say it."

Sully shook his head, a little miffed. "Well, it's true."

Nathan looked back at Sully with a raised eyebrow. "If it's too tough for you, you can always wait back in the motel."

Sully, however, shook his head. "Someone's gotta keep that head on your shoulders. Besides, last time I let you go out on your own, you became one of Atlas' most wanted."

Nathan let out a groan. "Will you let that go? I just threw a grenade at her!"

Sully raised an eyebrow at the oversimplification. "'Her' being one of the most important and deadly people in all of Remnant."

Nathan held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, go ahead and wet yourself at the very thought of some Atlas chick. We've made plenty of enemies, Sully, she's no different."

Sully sighed and trudged alongside Nate. "Whatever you say, kid."

They walked along for a few more seconds when Nate interrupted the silence. "On a side note; You think she's single?"

Sully just gave Nate a deadpan stare. "Don't even joke about that." Nate just laughed.

Unknown to the two, however, watching them from afar was… absolutely nothing. But upon closer inspection, one could just make out a shimmering outline of a hulking figure, a near inhumane growl emanating from it.

 **(Line Break)**

 **There you go! Hope you all liked it! Is it too soon to bring in characters from RvB? Probably, but alas, this is my fanfic and there's nothing you can do about it! Unless you don't like it… then I shall scrap this whole thing and rewrite from scratch. Speaking of which, did you guys see the trailer for RWBY volume 6? I'm feeling the hype! Who knows, maybe I'll make another RWBY fanfic that's more focused on the actual team RWBY.**


	3. When Your Story Gets Meta

**Hello guys, gals, and nonbinary pals!**

 **Drako: You stole that from Thomas Sanders.**

 **Gamer44D: Oh come on! This isn't even your fic!**

 **Drako: But I am your character. I can go wherever I want.**

 **Gamer44D: Whatever. I'm just glad it's only you.**

 **Nathan: You sure about that?**

 **Gamer44D: Damn it!**

 **Winter: So you're continuing this story of yours?**

 **Gamer44D: Of course I am, why wouldn't I?**

 **Winter: I just thought you'd be stretching yourself too thin. With your other story and now that you're adding Red Vs. Blue into the mix, this story would become to far fetched.**

 **Gamer44D: I'm not mixing RVB into this! I'm just adding in one or two or…(does some quick counting on his hand) all of the characters.**

 **Nathan: So just the parts of RVB that makes it RVB.**

 **Gamer44D: ...Yes.**

 **Nathan: So why not just make this a RVB/RWBY crossover?**

 **Gamer44D: For one thing, I've only put in one character for now, others will only come in much later. Second of all, they're mostly just plot devices to move the plot or add some conflict. You and Winter are the main stars. And lastly, there are already so many of those, I like to challenge myself with stories that are really out there, that not many people would think of.**

 **Drako: Um…**

 **Gamer44D: Quiet you. We've wasted enough time.**

 **If I owned Naughty Dog, Nathan would have been more involved in the last game.**

 **Nathan: I wasn't in Lost Legacy?**

 **Gamer44D: I don't know, I typically avoid anything that has to with that game. It could have spoilers for Uncharted 4!**

 **And if I owned Rooster Teeth, I'd make our website less absolutely horrible. I refreshed the screen 27 times just to see the new episode of Nomad of Nowhere!**

 **(Line Break)**

"So what exactly are we supposed to be looking for, again?" Sully called out from across the gorge.

"Something that looks fake, a plastic rock, a metal tree. Anything that could be a secret entrance," Nathan replied. "That's usually how these things work."

"How about that big metal rock sticking out the side of the cliff?" Sully called out.

"What?" Nathan asked as he jogged over to Sully.

Sully pointed up the mountain. There was a shimmering sheet of metal embedded in the ice and snow.

Nate smiled, "Good eye, Sully," He patted his mentor on the back.

"Don't thank me yet," Sully mumbled, eyeing the steep cliffside. "First we gotta figure out how to get up there."

Nathan looked at the cliffside and he had to admit, it was far too steep to climb on his own. Also it was ice, ice tends to be hard to climb straight up. But Nate noticed a ridge sticking out next to the panel. "Hey," he pointed to the ledges. "If I can find my way up there, I should be able to reach it."

"How convenient," Huffed Sully. "Except we still have the same problem. How are you supposed to reach the ledge so you can reach the the metal panel?"

"I'll think of something," Nate said, eying a particular pine tree. But something was itching at the back of his head though. He turned around to the open woods but nothing was there. "Hey, Sully," Nate asked. "You ever feel like you're being watched?"

Sully sighed, wishing he had a cigar. "You start feeling that way after being on the run for so long, more often than not it's just your head playing tricks on ya."

Nathan relented as he turned back to the tree.

Nate began his climb using the many branches as footholds and handles. Once he reached the top he surveyed his surroundings, to his back was the ridge.

"Be careful up there, kid," Sully called from down below.

"Relax, Sully, I'll be fine," Nate called out. "Probably," He muttered.

Nathan braced himself as he steadied his feet. "Here we go…" he whispered, then he leaped from the tree to the mountain wall. His fingers barely latched on to the ridge to stop himself from falling. "Whew…" He breathed out as he adjusted his grip. "See? Told ya I'd be fine," He yelled to his companion down below.

"Heh," Sully chuckled. "You sure you're not some sort of monkey faunus, kid?"

"I'm pretty sure I'd know if I had a secret monkey tail," Nathan replied as he shuffled his hands along the ledge towards the mysterious metal plate. He was almost there when "Crap," Nate hissed the last piece of the ledge crumbled when he put his hand on it. Fortunately, Nathan was still holding on to a more stable part of the ledge.

"You okay, kid?" Sully called out to his companion.

"I'm fine," Nathan shouted. "Looks like I'll have to find another way, though."

Nathan observed his surroundings. There was a dent in the mountainside above him but he couldn't reach it. However, Nathan came prepared. With one hand holding onto the ledge, he pulled out his pistol, on top of the barrel was a single spike. Nate pressed a button on the handle and the spike flipped up 90 degrees so it was sticking out.

Switching his grip to a reverse grip, he stuck the spike into the ice above him. Once he made sure it was firmly in there, he used the new hand hold to pull himself up to the ledge. "There we go," he muttered to himself as he switched his gun back to normal and put it back in its holster.

Nathan was now leaping from ledge to ledge, making his way the the panel until "Finally," Nate breathed out as he found himself right next to the panel.

"Let's see here," Nate muttered as he found a small latch at the top of the panel. He clicked it open and the sheet fell open to reveal five horizontal cylinders, with different symbols on them, attached to the panel. Nate touched the one on the far left and found that he could turn them. He turned the cylinder until it revealed a new symbol.

"It's some kind of mechanism," Nate yelled down to Sully. "I think I'm supposed to find some sort of pattern."

"Do have any idea what that pattern could be?" Sully called back.

"No," Nate replied. "See if there are any clues on the map."

Sully reached into his jacket and pulled out the file. His eyes scanned the piece of paper they had 'borrowed' but couldn't find any sort of clues except the big X and a small word written in the upper right corner. "The word 'Alpha' is written on the edge," Sully yelled up. "That mean anything?"

"Maybe," Nate replied. He turned his head back to the puzzle. Those symbols… they were letters! Matayan letters to be precise. No one spoke it since it belonged to a dead race, but luckily Nathan had picked up a few words here and there.

The treasure hunter reached to the first cylinder and turned it to the Matayan letter for 'A'. After that, he was able to adjust all the cylinders until they made one word. 'Alpha'

Once the last letter clicked into place. Nate felt the mountainside rumble. "I think that did something!" He yelled.

The ice below Nate began to break and crumble apart. More and more pieces of the mountainside fell apart to reveal a stone mural.

"Holy shit," Sully breathed out. It was nearly 60 feet tall!

"What is it?" Nate yelled down from his perch.

"It's uh…" Sully took a moment to find the words. The stone mural depicted what looked like a snowflake at the bottom leading into a bizarre series of twists and turns eventually coming up to a castle-like structure. "It looks like a map for a maze or something," He yelled.

"Really?" Nathan yelled. "Take a picture of it with your scroll, I'll try to find a way back down."

"Sure," Sully agreed and then pulled out the small rectangular device. "Stupid thing," He muttered under his breath as he tried to get it to camera mode. He never could figure out these new fangled devices Atlas keeps pumping out. Eventually, he was able to get the camera function up and running, he aimed it at the mural and snapped a picture. "Got it!"

"Great!" Nate yelled as he turned his head to look down at his mentor and smiled, but something wasn't right. Nathan swore he saw something move.

The treasure hunter squinted his eyes at the snow covered ground. There were… footprints? Even from his current height, Nate was able to tell these footprints were big enough for an ursa's! He tracked the prints and saw more being made by seemingly nothing. Nate stared intensely at where the footprints were and his eyes picked up a shimmer of a large creature, and it was right behind Sully!

"Sully, watch out!" Nate didn't think in that second. He just leapt off the side of the cliff and let gravity take its course.

Sully didn't need to think twice as he leaped forward just as he felt the wind of a slash and heard the cry of a blade.

Sully ducked, tumbled, and turned himself around to face the assailant. All he saw was the shimmering figure of a behemoth holding a curved blade.

The invisible adversary began to march forward to finish the job, when Nate miraculously fell right where it was.

Using gravity to his advantage, Nathan threw his fist where he assumed the head was. Good news: He hit the nail right on the head. Bad news:

"OH GOD! I think I broke it!" Nate seethed as he held his left hand after he crashed into the snow.

The creature stood back up, the punch barely making it stagger. The shimmering disappeared as the assailant turned off it's camouflage. Now that the partners in crime could see their enemy, it was revealed to be a 7-foot tall monster of a man. It's large build was covered in white plated armor stained with dust and blood. Its head was covered by a helmet that seemed to be made of orange-tinted glass concealing its face. In its hands was a high-tech looking grenade launcher with a thick curved blade attached. It's annoyance was clear as it gave a deep growl.

"Dear God," Sully choked out. "What the Hell is that thing?!"

"I don't know!" Nate yelled as he unstrapped his machine gun. He pointed it at the monster man and unloaded a hail of bullets.

A bubble seemingly made of hexagons of energy suddenly appeared and enclosed itself around the hulking figure, the bullets harmlessly bouncing off it.

"Damn it," Nate swore. The bubble disappeared as the giant charged Nate. "Crap!" Nate quickly switched to machete mode to deflect the bladed end of the grenade launcher.

The armored figure continued its onslaught as it slashed at Nathan again and again. Nathan blocked and parried as best he could, it was slower than Winter, but WOW was it stronger! Nathan felt his arm go a bit numb with each block, their blades creating sparks. "A little help would be great!" He yelled to Sully.

Sully responded by taking out his lucky revolver. The con-man shot three rounds into the man's armored back.

It was little more than an annoyance to the giant man as he brushed the bullets off. It abandoned it's blade strategy as its arm shot out and grabbed Nate's throat.

Nathan choked as he was unable to get air into his lungs. The behemoth lifted him up by the neck as Nate's feet dangled off the ground. The monster then decided Nate wasn't worth its time and casually threw him off to the side.

The creature turned its chrome plated head over to Sully and readied its grenade launcher. "Oh shit," Sully swore.

The creature fired three consecutive shots, perhaps payback for Sully's bullets. Sully dived to the right to avoid getting blown to smithereens. The blue orbs crashed against the stone mural completely destroying it, but the destruction didn't stop as cracks started to travel up the cliffside.

"OH SHIT!" yelled Sully as the snow-covered rocks began to fall. Sully ran right past the giant and over to Nate. "Come on, kid!" He yelled as he hoisted Nate up by the arm. "AVALANCHE!"

Nathan quickly shook off his dizziness as his survival instincts kicked in and he broke into a sprint.

What was previously the biggest danger in the canyon just stood there as the ice and snow covered him.

The two criminals ran like Hell until they reached the jeep. "Get us out of here, kid!" Sully yelled as he hopped the door directly into the passenger seat.

"Hold on!" Nathan warned as he kicked the vehicle into reverse. They sped backwards until Nathan swerved around and switched to drive. They raced form the canyon as it was filled with snow.

Once they made it out with their lives, Nate chuckled. "That wasn't so bad."

Sully just gave Nate a deadpan look. Nate shrugged. "You got the picture?"

Sully held up his scroll. "Right here, kid."

"Great," Nate smirked. "We need to memorize it, and then delete it."

"I don't know," Sully shook his head. "My mind's not what it used to be…"

"No sweat," Nate waved off. "My mind's as sharp as ever." Nate's smirk disappeared as he turned back to where they came from. "What was that thing, Sully?"

"I have no god damn idea," Sully sighed. "But I sure as Hell hope we never see it again…"

 **(Line Break)**

 **Gamer44D: I originally was gonna keep this chapter longer but by this point, I was a bit burnt out.**

 **Nathan: Did you figure out what my semblance is?**

 **Gamer44D: Not yet, someone suggested that your semblance should just be good luck and while that is possible since Qrow's semblance is bad luck, it would both make sense and not make sense.**

 **Nathan: What do you mean?**

 **Gamer44D: I mean it could be considered lucky when you survive a collapsing bridge, but if you were truly lucky, the bridge would have never collapsed in the first place.**

 **Nathan: Huh.**

 **Winter: Where was I this chapter?**

 **Gamer44D: You were in the part that I scrapped. But don't worry, that'll be part of the next chapter. Until then, read and review!**


	4. An Unexpected (and Unwanted) Partnership

**Hello, everybody! I just finished Uncharted 4 and I'm ready to write!**

 **Nathan: What'd you think of my last adventure?**

 **Gamer44D: Honestly? I was so sure you were you were gonna die.**

 **Nathan: What?!**

 **Gamer44D: Well it's just that in the trailer it sounded like you were giving your last thoughts and the game is called 'A Thief's End' and with all that drama with Elena. It was all the basic storytelling signs of a man foreshadowed to die!**

 **Nathan: Okay, that's fair.**

 **Winter: Speaking of Elena, where is she in this story?**

 **Gamer44D: Oh, that's simple. She doesn't exist.**

 **Nathan:...Why?**

 **Gamer44D: Small reason is that she wouldn't fit in this story, big reason is that I really don't like her.**

 **Nathan: Hey, that's my wife you're talking about!**

 **Gamer44D: Not in this universe!**

 **Winter: So why do you hate her so much?**

 **Gamer44D: Hate's a strong word, but I'd say it's mostly because she suffers from something I like to call 'Love Interest Syndrome'**

 **Nathan: Love interests syndrome?**

 **Gamer44D: It's when a character is given no background or personality except that they're the protagonist's love interest, they serve the plot in no way except that they create internal drama for the main character, like MJ from Spider-Man. I mean, do you even notice how much Elena antagonizes you? Now let's get on with the chapter.**

 **If I owned Uncharted, Elena would have been given more character.**

 **If I owned RWBY, I'd make Ruby's voice less high-pitched.**

 **(Line Break)**

Nathan gazed at the photo, intensely, memorising every painstaking detail. Every twist and turn of the labyrinth. "I got it," He smirked. "It's a maze to Hans Christia and this is the map!"

"Well, that's all fine and dandy," Sully said. He had switched over to the driver seat so Nate could memorize the picture. "But can you figure it out?"

"Just did," Nate said as he slid his finger across the screen, deleting the image. "Now the only map to Hans Christia is up here," he tapped his finger against his forehead.

Sully let out a breath of relief. "You sure you got the whole thing?"

Nate rolled his eyes. "Sully, I sat in a jeep for three hours straight, just looking at a maze. I'm pretty sure I got it." He tossed Sully's scroll over to his mentors lap. "Besides, it's too late now."

Sully shrugged as he continued to drive. It was shortly after that, they reached the motel at dusk.

"Okay, I think I figured out where the labyrinth starts," Nate said as he unlocked the door. "First thing tomorrow, we head out and… find….it," Nate's voice died in his throat as he saw the figure standing with their back to him in the middle of the room.

The figures curves obviously inclined it was a woman. She appeared tall, mostly due to the ice blue high-heeled boots. She was dressed in a white Atlas militia blazer, with snow-white hair tied into a bun. Her hands were neatly folded behind her back, covered by long gloves that matched the boots. A cutlass at her side.

WInter turned around. "Mister Drake," She said, coldly.

"Uh…" Nate heard Sully mumble behind him. "I'll give you two a minute alone." That traitor!

Sully walked out the door. And walked right back in with his hands in the air and an Atlas foot soldier holding a gun to his back.

"So…" Nate slurred as he also put his hands up as well. "Were you guys just standing there for three hours waiting for us?"

If Winter was irked by Nathan's attempt at humor, she didn't show it. She walked up to Nate and stared him down. "The file; Where is it?" She asked, sternly.

"What file?" Nate played dumb. "The one where Sully hides his porn? Because I swear that he meant no offense."

That was the wrong thing to say as Nate now had a blade at his throat.

"I don't have the patience for your games, _Drake_ ," Winter hissed with venom in her voice. "And I don't think you can just throw a grenade again. Where. Is. The file?"

Nate sighed. "Sully," He said.

Sully nodded. He slowly reached into his jacket and pulled out the file and gently tossed it to the floor.

Winter kneeled down and picked it up, giving it a once over to make sure it was real.

"Okay, you got your file," Nate pointed out. "Now you can be on your merry way."

"Not so fast!" Winter snapped as she pressed the blade against the thief's neck. "You and your partner still interfered with classified Atlas business and trespassed on Atlas property. You'll be coming with us."

"What? Hey, hold on a second!" Nate protested as two more soldiers came in with handcuffs. "That ship was stolen by pirates, we didn't trespass anywhere!"

"Those 'pirates' were former Atlas military. We have full jurisdiction to take you in," Winter retaliated as she sheathed her sword. "Take them away," She ordered as she marched past them towards the door.

"WAIT!" Nate yelled just as she reached for the handle. Winter turned her head to the thief with a raised eyebrow.

"If you're so interested in that file-" Nate pointed at the papers in Winter's hands. "Then you must be looking for Hans Christia, right?"

Winter narrowed her eyes as Nate smirked, figuring he hit the nail on the head.

"Well, that piece of paper USED to lead to a map to the Palace of Diamonds. I say 'used to' since that map is destroyed," Nate shrugged his shoulders, smugly. "But luckily for you, I memorized every last detail before it was turned into rubble. If you let us go, I can lead you to it."

Winter kept her icy glare as Nate held out his hand for a handshake. "What do you say?"

 **(Line Break)**

Nathan continuously banged his head against the metal walls of their cell.

"Remind me again," Sully requested, sitting on a metal bench. "What the Hell were you thinking?"

"Shut up, Sully," Nate mumbled as he continued to bang his head.

Sully sighed as he leaned against the cold metal wall. "Wish they let me keep my cigars."

 **(Line Break)**

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Winter asked as she now stood in the private office of General Ironwood. It was a simple room, made entirely out of metal, with a comfy leather chair and a desk covered in paperwork.

"Yes, I did," The general said from his desk. "I wanted to discuss with you the matter of Nathan Drake."

"Of course, sir," Winter nodded her head. "Subject is currently being held in the prison bay along with Victor Sullivan."

"Good," Ironwood nodded. "And you said that during the apprehension of him, he claimed to have memorised some sort of map to Hans Christia?"

"Indeed, sir," Winter confirmed. "Obviously a bluff to escape his charges."

Ironwood sighed and leaned back into his seat. "Unfortunately, it wasn't."

"What? I don't understand," Winter asked in confusion.

Ironwood stood up and walked around his desk. "I sent a squad out to where the papers lead, what they found was this," He took out his scroll and opened it into tablet form. The image on the scroll revealed a mountainside that looked to be covered by an avalanche. A section of it looked to be made of stone rather than ice but looked burned and shattered.

"What happened there?" Winter asked as she grabbed the tablet from the general.

"Presumably, some sort of explosion," Ironwood answered. "As for the cause, we analysed the scorched residue found on the stone. We found that it was caused by some sort of fusion between fire and lightning dust."

"Fused dust?" Winter eyes widened. "Forgive me, sir, but shouldn't that be impossible?"

"It should be," Ironwood conceded. "But that is what our research team found."

Winter shook her head. "I can't believe this."

"That's not all," Ironwood spoke. "We also analysed our bases that were attacked."

Winter swallowed at the thought of those bloodied images.

"Plenty of our defenses were completely blown apart in the attacks, we've discovered the our defenses were destroyed by the same dust that destroyed the mural." Ironwood stated.

"So…" Winter put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Whatever attacked the mural, is the one attacking our bases."

"Exactly," Ironwood nodded, gravely. "And now we can only assume it's on its way to Hans Christia."

"Then…" Winter looked down at the floor, lost. "How do we track it? We don't have any leads."

"Well," the general said, causing Winter to look up. "We do have one lead."

Winter's eyes became dinner plates once she realized what her commanding officer was implying. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Permission granted," Ironwood allowed.

"I think that's a horrible idea," She declared. "Drake is a liar and a thief, he'll take the first chance he gets to stab us in the back."

"Oh," Ironwood raised his eyebrow. "And how do you know this about a man you've only briefly met?"

"He's a criminal," Winter spat as if it was obvious. "No matter the crime, people like him always spit on the law and forgo others for the sake of their own personal gain."

Ironwood shook his head as he leaned back in his chair. "Winter, you need to learn that not everything is so black and white."

"I don't need color vision to know we can't trust someone like Drake," Winter insisted.

"He's a thief," Ironwood stated. "Not a psychopath, he can be reasoned with."

"But, sir-"

"Enough, Winter!" Ironwood snapped. "Unless you have some other way of tracking down this 'Meta'."

Winter growled in anger and disappointment as she hung her head. She did not.

 **(Line Break)**

Nathan's hands were cuffed behind his back as Atlas soldiers dragged him down the hall.

"You know, this place could use a lot more color," Nate said as they pushed him down the dull metal hallways. "I mean, the last time I was imprisoned was in Vacuo. Sure, their walls were a dull brown but they at least had the decency to paint parts of them red, and the inmates helped out!"

The soldiers didn't respond as they shoved him harder. "Just saying, don't expect me to leave a good review online."

Eventually, they walked up to a steel door, slightly larger and more than the others. "Ah, good. I assume that this is the manager's office so I can file a proper complaint?"

The soldier simply scanned his scroll on the keypad. A 'ding' was heard and the door opened up with a hiss. The soldiers shoved Nathan through the doorway and the opening sealed shut behind him.

Nate was now in a room that looked like one of those interrogation rooms from the cop shows he and Sully used to watch. They should really get back into that. But now wasn't the time as a stern looking general was sitting at the metal table in the middle of the room with an even more stern looking specialist standing beside him.

General Ironwood had his hands folded in front of him placed on the table, his face emotionless and cold. Winter stood in her typical position with her hands behind her back but her scowl was much more noticable. "Sit," Ironwood commanded, gesturing to the opposite chair.

"You know, I see what you're going for here-truly, I do," Nate said as he walked over. "But unfortunately, you're missing the white cat. Unless you count miss Stabby here." He nodded to Winter as he plopped down on the chair.

Ironwood did not look amused as Winter's pale complexion was compromised by her seething red rage.

"I didn't bring you here to make jokes," Ironwood stated. He looked over to Winter, who was trying to regain her composure. "Unlock his cuffs."

"But, sir-" Winter stuttered.

"Unlock them, Winter," Ironwood said with a tone of finality.

Winter cursed under her breath. She walked around the table and unlocked the thief's cuffs before returning to her superiors side.

Nathan massaged his wrists to regain the feeling in his limbs. "So, what's the deal?"

"You said that you memorized a map to Hans Christia," Ironwood explained. "Describe it."

Nate raised an eyebrow but complied. "It was a snowflake that lead into a maze that may or may not be riddled with booby traps. Does this mean you reconsidered my offer?"

Ironwood looked down in thought. "Perhaps, you're simply a small time crook. Crimes like yours don't fall under our jurisdiction, until you interfered with Atlas business." Ironwood looked Nathan in the eye. "You supply your assistance for this assignment, we can only pardon you of your Atlas crimes. You'll still have a price on your head for all your other crimes."

Nate shrugged his shoulders. "Works for me."

Ironwood nodded. "Good, you and specialist Schnee shall embark on a mission tomorrow to find the palace of diamonds."

"What?!" Both Winter and Nate called out, but Winter's was a bit louder.

"Sir, forgive me, but I refuse to work with such a juvenile hooligan!" Winter protested.

"Yeah, I have a rule about not working with people who have a stick up there but that's longer than 3 feet," Nathan inputted, eliciting a growel from Winter.

"You two WILL work together," Ironwood insisted. "Winter is one of my most skilled militia, she'll also need keep tabs on you to make sure you don't go back on your word." The two quieted down after that, Nate because he couldn't think of a counter argument, Winter because of her intense loyalty.

Ironwood continued "This is an extremely sensitive mission you two will have to operate solo,"

"Wait, solo?" Nate spoke up. "What about Sully?"

"We'll be keeping mr. Sullivan in custody unless you return from this mission, successfully," Ironwood informed.

Nate breathed out a sigh of annoyance. "You know, for being the general of the supposed 'just' military, you sure are acting like a mob boss."

"He is willing to take any measure to keep the people of Remnant safe!" Winter heatedly defended her general. "Not that criminal scum like you would understan-"

"Schnee!" Ironwood snapped. "That's enough."

Winter bit her tongue and hung her head.

Ironwood sighed. "I suggest you two work out your issues now. You'll be spending a lot of time together."

Nathan groaned as he decided to just suck it up. He stood up and held his hand out to Winter with his best smile. "Well, I guess we're partners now."

Winter gave an icy glare at Nate's hand as if it offended her. She ignored it in favor of marching out the room with a huff. "Well…" Nate mumbled. "She seems nice."

 **(Line Break)**

 **I gotta admit, I'm really proud of this chapter. I feel like it does the best so far at Nathan's sense of humor.**

 **Nathan: Speaking of which, why do you keep switching between Nate and Nathan when talking about me in the third person?**

 **Gamer44D: Sometimes I feel like writing Nathan, sometimes I feel like writing Nate. I doubt it really bothers anyone. We all know who I'm talking about.**

 **Before I leave I would like to leave a special thank you to Awesome Dude 94. This guy has commented on every chapter so far and each one is chock full of positivity and constructive criticism! I know, right! Offering points on a story without needlessly bashing it? Impossible! In all seriousness, thanks Awesome Dude 94 (cool name by the way). Every time I get one of your reviews I get all warm and fuzzy. It's amazing knowing there's someone out there who loves my story so much. And rest assured, I'm taking everything you say into consideration. I'm not just gonna throw RVB characters at a wall and see if they stick, I'm easing into it, Meta's the only one that's gonna play a prominent role for a while. Speaking of which, when you asked about the Meta's goal in all this it got me thinking. Obviously, I had a reason for the Meta. I mean, what am I, a Fanboy?**

 **Drako: Yes**

 **Gamer44D: Shut it. As I was saying, I had motivation for the Meta but when you expressed such interest in it I started things like 'Does it make sense?' or 'Does this line up cannonicly?' Eventually I ended up completely rewriting entire parts of the story! Not literally of course, that would take forever. So keep your feedback coming! As for another one of your questions, sorry to disappoint, but I won't be changing the Meta's design. Backstory? Yes. Design? Well you gotta admit, the Meta's armor does look a lot like it was straight out of Atlas military. And the Brute Shot? That thing was a RWBY weapon before RWBY was a thing! As for semblance, I always forget about that when putting someone in the RWBY world, but don't worry I'm all over it. Until then, stay awesome!**


	5. Into the Maze

**Heeyyy…. So there's a very good reason why I've updated so late. (Scene switches to me sitting on a couch in a bathrobe, eating Cheez-Its and binge playing Persona 5) ANOTHER reason. You guys ever feel like so apathetic to everything, that even your passion ends up feeling like a chore? No? Okay. Either way, lately, it's been hard for me to be...happy. I only write these stories to have fun and it's hard to have incentive to do them when rarely anything is fun for you anymore. Also, I'm like REALLY lazy. But I don't think too many people throwing fits over how late I update my fanfic. At least I update more often than Jontron, right?**

 **So you should know the drill by now, I don't own Rooster Teeth or Naughty Dog yadda, yadda, yadda… On with the show.**

 **(Line Break)**

The bullhead was in awkward silence as they made their way to their destination. Nathan was going through his ammo clips making sure he had enough dust bullets. Winter was sitting across from him, glaring. And in the pilot in the cockpit was just not trying to poke a sleeping bear.

"So…" Nathan attempted to break the silence. "What business does the Atlas military chasing down a supposed fairy tale?"

"Classified," Winter replied tersely.

"Figures..." Nathan huffed. "So I heard that your sword can turn into smaller sword, why?"

"Classified," She gave the same answer.

"Of course," Nate rolled his eyes. "Seen any good movies lately?"

"Classified," Winter kept her cold glare.

Nate groaned as he leaned back in his seat. "These benches could be a little bit more comfy, you know?"

"These bullheads are for transporting elite Atlas soldiers," Winter scowled. "Not for being comfy."

Nate shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt to toss in a couple of throw pillows."

"You fancy yourself a comedian?" Winter narrowed her eyes.

Nate simply shrugged his shoulders. "I do pretty decent on open mic night."

"Well, let me get one thing clear, Drake," Winter grasped her sword handle threateningly. "This mission is strict Atlas business. I will not tolerate insolence, insubordination, or incompetent stooges who think their funny."

"Oh, please," Nate brushed off her threat. "Do you even know what we're looking for?"

"Hans Christia, the Palace of Diamonds," Winter stated like giving a report. "Long ago, after the brothers of light and darkness left this world, there was an ancient race born of the last traces of magic in the world; The Matayans. Legend says they could use their magic to accomplish the impossible. They could move the earth, see into the minds of others, it is even their magic could create souls."

Winter's eyes became distant. "Eventually, others began to seek out the Matayans and steal their powers to use for their own personal gain. Fighting broke out, fights turned to battles, battles turned to war… until the Matayans decided they no longer wanted any part in this world. They took all their magic and relics, and hid where no one could find them; a city of their own making, Hans Christia, a palace said to be made out of the most precious ore in the world."

"Oookay…" Nate gaped at her. "I didn't ask for that whole exposition dump but… I think it's safe to say you know what we're looking for."

Winter allowed herself a smug grin. You know the one. "I've always been interested in fairy tales, but in the end, that's all they are; Fairy tales."

Nathan narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll ask again. If you're so sure it's just a story, then why are you out here?"

Winter didn't show any reaction. "I don't question my superiors, Drake. I suggest you do the same."

The pilot then meekly called out "Uh… sir- I mean ma'am- I mean-"

"Spit it out, soldier!" Winter snapped.

"Uh…" The pilot tried to hide his voice crack. "We're here."

Winter stood up and made her way to the cockpit. The mountain tops converged together to create a small passage too small for any vehicle, but from above one could see where it lead. A frozen lake dotted with multiple rocks and stone structure sticking out above the water. From above, it almost resembled a snowflake, thus giving it the name...Snowflake snow lake.

Winter suppressed a groan at the name that could have been made by a three-year-old. It was mostly just for tourism, mountain hikes to see the wonders of frozen nature and rock formations. Yet Drake had insisted that's where they started.

"I can't bring the bullhead any closer," The soldier reported. "There's no safe landing space."

"You've done enough," Winter said. "Bring us down."

The pilot nodded and lowered the bullhead. It slowed to a hover at a couple meters off the ground.

The cargo ramp lowered open and Nate and Winter hopped out. "Return to base," Winter spoke into her scroll. "I shall send a message when we need retrieval."

"Roger," the pilot responded. The bullhead lifted off and turned around to fly back to Atlas.

Once the bullhead was out of sight, Winter turned to Drake. "Now, why are we here?"

"Remember that map I told you about?" Nate made his way to the narrow passageway. "At the start of it, was a snowflake."

"And so you believe that it begins here?" Winter raised an eyebrow as she followed him. "Doesn't that seem a bit too obvious?"

"If you've got a better idea of what it means, I'm all ears," Nate walked through the stones.

Winter growled as she followed him. One day, she was going to have a retort for that.

She followed the thief through the icy passage. Now while it may look like snowflake from above, from ground level it just looked a simple frozen lake with awkwardly placed rocks.

"This place has been a tourist attraction for years," Winter walked up behind Drake. "Don't you think that someone would have found this supposedly secret entrance by now?"

Nate didn't respond as he took out a pair of binoculars. He aimed them towards the center of the lake and peered through them. "Well, that would be true unless the entrance was put where no one could reach it."

Winter followed his gaze and caught on to what he was thinking. "The Crystal Heart…" It wasn't anything impressive, just a bit of solid ice in the very center of the lake. But tour guides decided to drum up hype by giving it a name as if it was some sort of sacred treasure.

"It makes sense," Nate put down his binoculars and turned to Winter. "No one can swim in these waters, and due to the formation of the mountain around it, no one can use a bullhead to fly in."

"Very astute observation," Winter conceded. "Unfortunately, if the entrance really is there, how are we supposed to get to it?"

Nate turned back to look at the lake and all the awkward rocks sticking out. "We'll use the rocks."

"What?" Winter raised an eyebrow.

"We use the rocks to jump across," Nate gesture to the white stones.

"Impossible," Winter shook her head. "Those stones are covered in ice and hardly any of them have a stable surface." Indeed barely any of the rocks had a flat surface. "You'll slip, fall into the water, and freeze to death within seconds." The water temperatures in this climate were practically sub-zero so any outdoor swimming was suicidal.

"Well, yeah. I can see how that's impossible...for you," Nate casually said.

Winter narrowed her eyes at the treasure hunter. "Are you mocking me?"

"Who? Me? Oh no no no…" Nathan said innocently. "I'm mocking your choice of footwear," he gestured to her high-heeled boots. "I mean, I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure heels aren't very practical on the battlefield."

Winter scowled at Drake's smug expression. "Fine. Jump into the lake and freeze to death, I won't stop you."

Nathan shrugged and turned towards the icy water body. He started to jog to get a running start, at the end of the bank he leapt towards the nearest rock.

His boots touched base on the stone but the ice removed friction out of the equation, combined with his previous momentum Nathan began to slide of the rock.

Nathan would have met an icy fate if he didn't make a last-minute jump to the next rock, and did the same with the next. Eventually he was forced to leap at a rock that was too steep to land on, but Nate thought fast as he latched his fingers onto the rock's ledge suspending him right above the water's surface.

Nate let out a breath of relief before shimming himself around the rock to jump to the next area. This continued for a while. Jump onto a 'stepping' rock, nearly slide of it, jump to the next, take a breather at a 'hanging' rock. He sprained his ankle on a stepping rock but was able to shake off the pain at the next hanging rock. It wasn't the most linear way of getting to the center but he was making it work.

"Made it!" Nate landed on the center ice cap. He rested his hands on his knees as he waited for the adrenaline to subside.

Winter's eyes widened in surprise, but she wasn't impressed.

Nathan squatted down onto his knees. "Okay, let's see what we got here," he began to brush the snow out of the way looking for clues. Underneath all the snow was pure stone, a circular picture edged into it. The picture was indistinguishable, layers of it seemed mismatched and out of place.

Nathan scratched his chin in thought. Maybe this was another puzzle like at the mural. He laid his fingers on the outermost panel and applied pressure. Sure enough, the panel began rotating in parallel to all the others.

"What are you doing?" Winter impatiently called out.

"Hold on a second," Nate called back. "I think I found something!" He continued to rotate the layers until they seemed to resemble some kind of shape. "Of course," Nathan smirked as the plates aligned to make what else? A snowflake.

Once he pushed the last stone into place, a small 'click' was heard and the picture locked up. Nate raised his eyebrows as he pushed down on the plate. The stone sank as Nate felt a distinct rumbling from below.

The water of the lake trembled before it began to drain. The crystal blue surface sank and sank until the once great lake was nothing but a glorified bowl.

Winter was agape at the large basin, the bottoms of the rocks now being visible and at very center of it all at the rock Nathan was standing on, a doorway was carved into the stone with a set of stairs leading downwards.

"Well, well, well…" Nate smirked at Winter from across the new chasm. "Looks like someone was right about the lake."

Winter snapped out of her stupor to glare at Drake. "Don't go patting yourself on the back, a toddler could have figured that out."

Nate shrugged his shoulders and was about to make his way down when he saw a black figure squeezing out of a crack in the mountainside and making its way towards the specialist. "Look out!" he yelled.

Winter drew her sword and turned around just as the black figure leaped at her. She slashed her sword, decapitating the creature. She stepped to the side as its body went limp and harmlessly crashed to the ground.

The body of the grimm began to disintegrate but Winter was able to see the body of a gecko that was the size of a large dog.

"Slinkers," Winter hissed to herself. The salamander-like grimm were nothing to write home about in ferocity or strength, but they were quick little buggers that seemingly lacked any sort of skeleton allowing them to twist and shape their bodies any way they want to and rendering any sort of blunt weapon useless.

One by one, more slinkers began to squeeze through the cracks of the mountain wall, skittering across the stone as they made their way to attack.

Winter found herself surrounded by the gecko grimm and readied her stance. One pounced at her but she quickly dispatched it by slashing it across its chest. Another aimed for her legs as it slithered across the ground at her ankles, but she spun on her heel as she embedded her blade into its head.

It was all for nought though, as more began crawling down the side of the mountain. "Aw crap…" Nathan cursed as he unstrapped his assault rifle. He took aim as bullets blasted out of the barrel, rapidfire.

The slinkers' claws went slack as their bodies were embedded with dust and lead, thus they tumbled off the mountain side.

"I thought this was a tourist spot!" Nathan yelled as he kept firing. "Why the Hell are there so many grimm here?!"

"Not the time for questions, Drake!" Winter yelled as she decapitated another beast. Another lashed at her with its claw as she backflipped out of the way. The specialist landed down in the waterless water basin in a crouch. The black salamanders began slithering down to meet her.

Nathan reloaded another dust clip as more grimm began to swarm the place. "How are there so many of them?" He muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately, he was unable to see a slinker crawl up behind him as it pounced.

"Gah!" Nate gasped as he was tackled off his feet and therefore the rock he was standing on. Thinking quickly, Nathan twisted himself in midair and grabbed hold of the slinker. He re-positioned himself as he crashed to the ground using the grimm as a makeshift airbag.

Nate groaned and pushed himself up to his feet as the grimm disintegrated. He didn't have time to rest though as another slinker made a bite at him.

"Oum!" Nathan swore as he nearly lost his arm. He switched his weapon to machete mode and swung it like a baseball bat, knocking the creature away. He switched back to gun and started firing in all direction, trying to kill as many grimm as possible.

It was then that he noticed that he ankles were feeling a bit wet as he looked down. A thin layer of water rested on the stone floor. That's funny it looked completely dry before unless…

Nate turned around to see that a stone slab was slowly lowering itself over the doorway.

Nate's eyes widened as he twisted back around. "Winter!" he yelled. "The lake is filling back up! We need to go, NOW!"

"Little busy at the moment!" Winter yelled as she spin kicked another creature.

"Crap," Nate muttered under his breath. He switched to machete mode and charged.

Winter was a whirlwind of sharp steel as she continuously slashed through the grimm. But for every one she cut down, two more took its place.

They didn't show any concern or their fallen comrades as they continued to charge Winter, but then a screaming treasure hunter ran into the fray, swinging his sword like a madman. The grimm were so startled by this unstrategic strategy that they actually scattered and backed off.

Now that she wasn't being dog-piled by grimm, Nate grabbed Winter's shoulder. "We need to get moving."

Winter bristled at the contact. "Don't touch me!" She snapped as she pulled her arm away.

Nathan gawked at her. "Hello? Flash flood incoming! Now's not the time to worry about my cooties!"

Winter suddenly blinked back into reality. He was right, she could see water beginning to pool in between the rocks. She turned her head back to the doorway; it was halfway closed!

She sheathed her rapier and ran towards the doorway, followed by Drake and several angry grimm.

Winter was considered a very fast huntress, even faster when using her glyphs. But one tends to forget particular skills in times of stress. Such as Winter forgetting how fast she can move when running towards a closing door. It was still a quarter open, if she could just reach it-

Winter found herself tackled from behind. It appeared that Drake had barreled right into her but fortunately, that tackle carried just enough momentum to get to the doorway.

The two reluctant partners tumbled underneath the doorway just as it closed shut. The slinkers hissed and clawed at the stone surface to no avail. And before they could think, they were crushed beneath 200,000 gallons of water.

 **(Line Break)**

 **So… yeah. Short chapter that probably wasn't worth the wait. When I first started these stories, I knew it was impossible to get out a chapter once a week, that I was content with. But I at least thought I'd update one of my stories at least ONCE every two weeks but you don't know what I've been through! (scene switches to me, in puppy-print pajamas, playing Smash. Ultimate.) I mean MENTALLY. Anyway, hope you like the mini backstory I gave on Hans Christia. If you can't get enough of this story, check out AwesomeDude94's story Holiday Cheer. It's based off of my story (don't worry, I gave permission) It's sort of a non-cannon holiday special. And it's just as well written, if not better, than mine! Well, see you all in a month!**


	6. The First Few Turns

**So….I've been hit with a massive case of writer's block when it comes to this story in particular. But still… over a year with no updates? I feel like I've let so many of you down, especially you Awesome Dude. You've probably lost all interest in this story by now.**

 **If I owned either Naughty Dog or Roosterteeth then nothing would get done.**

 **XXX**

"Ugh…" Nathan groaned. "I feel like I've been knocked out for a year," he grumbled as he pushed himself. All he remembered bumping and tumbling down a flight of stairs before he blacked out. Oddly enough the landing wasn't so bad.

"Get...Off…" Winter growled from beneath him.

Ah, that explains it. Nathan pushed himself off the specialist and turned around to see a giant staircase leading up to the darkness. "We must have tumbled all the way down here." He deduced.

"Thank you for that astute observation," Winter stood up and dusted herself off.

Nate took a look at their surroundings. It was pretty standard stuff as far as ice caves go. Dark, big, and cold as Hell. Wait, cold as Hell, does that simile make sense? Questions for later. In front of them was a wall of ice with two tunnels leading in opposite directions; right and left.

"Alright, Drake," Winter said, her tone matching the wall composition. "This is the whole reason we've brought you here. Which way do we go?"

"Well…" Nathan scratched his chin. "If I remember correctly, right eventually leads to a dead end so left it is," he deduced.

"Very well," Winter nodded and began marching forward.

"Whoa, hold it!" Nathan blocked her path. "You can't just walk on in. There could be booby traps."

"Booby traps?" Winter raised an eyebrow. "If you're trying to be clever, it's not working."

"No, I'm serious," Nate insisted. "I've been through these kinds of places before. You never know when spikes are gonna pop out of the ground, or the walls start caving in, or the floor just gives out from under you!"

"That's ridiculous," Winter shook her head. "That's the kind of thing you only see in childish cartoons and movies. Now, I suggest you get out of my way."

Nate held his hands up in mock surrender and stepped off to the side. Winter nodded to herself in satisfaction, glad he could follow orders to some degree. She continued her march but suddenly halted in her tracks when a tile she stepped on sank into the floor.

As Winter stumbled to regain her footing, she heard the sounds of gears turning and locks releasing. For the second time that day, Winter was tackled to the ground by Drake. Just in time too, as the ceiling opened up to reveal what looked like a giant stone hammer. Gravity did its work as the mallet swung in an arc and smashed into the cavern wall. If Winter had just stood there, she would have been nothing more than a splash of red contrasting the blue hue of the ice cave.

"See what I mean?" Nate smirked at the shocked Winter. "Booby traps."

Winter shoved Nathan off her to stare at the mechanism. "But… the number of resources needed to construct such a convoluted contraption…"

"Best not to question the logic of an extinct race…" Nate dusted himself off. "Shall we?"

Winter glared at the thief but begrudgingly followed him through the cave, this time minding where she stepped.

 **(…)**

It was a relatively uneventful ice tunnel. They continued in silence which is just fine by Winter. Of course, like all tunnels had to lead somewhere. They walked into a relatively large room, across the floor, there were many different tiles with pictures carved into them. At the end of the room was a closed set of doors made out of, unsurprisingly, ice.

"Ah," Nate let out a sound of recognition. "This puzzle is a classic, step on the tiles in the correct order, if you step on the wrong one; booby trap."

"You can't be serious," Winter stared at all the different pictures etched into the floor. "I've seen movies with this exact scenario."

"Don't believe me? Take it up with the giant hammer," Nate responded, cheekily.

Winter ground her teeth together as she tightened her grip on her sword hilt. "Fine. What's the correct pattern?"

Nate's smug expression disappeared as he suddenly appeared very lost. "Uh… I don't know."

"You… don't know?" Winter repeated slowly. "The whole reason you're here is to navigate this cavern and you don't know how to progress?!"

Nate held up his hands to defend himself. "Hey, the mural just showed a maze! It didn't include anything about puzzles!"

Winter growled and shook her head. "Well, this is just perfect! We're stuck in an ice cave with no way of progressing!"

"Hold on," Nate held up a hand and looked downwards. At the very base before the tiles started, there were scribbles. "I think there's something written here," he leaned down on one knee and analyzed it. "Well, if my ancient Matayan is correct, this says 'evolution is the key'."

"And what does that mean?" Winter questioned.

"Dunno," Nate shrugged. "But it's the only clue we've got, so we probably shouldn't take our chances."

They stood there for a minute or so, scratching their heads (Well Nate scratched his head, Winter just quizzically glared at the obstacle before them.) "Say…" Winter spoke up. "When was the theory of evolution created?"

Nathan quirked a brow but shrugged. "A few years after the Matayans disappeared, but if they were as advanced as the legends claim I wouldn't be surprised if they figured it out earlier and just didn't tell anyone. Why do you ask?"

"The tiles," Winter pointed out. "They have Grimm on them."

Nathan looked and saw that each tile did indeed have pictures of the creatures of Grimm. "Fair point, but what are you trying to say?"

"Evolution is the theory that humanity was born from changing animals in different cycles," Winter explained. "And every theoretical phase of humanity's evolution corresponds with a Grimm on these tiles."

Nate took a closer look at the tiles and saw that she was right. "Evolution is the key," he muttered to himself. "It's a long shot but it's all we have." He noticed a jellyfish looking Grimm drawing. "Jellyfish are invertebrate, just like the very first single-celled organisms. If this is gonna start anywhere, it's there." He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pressed his foot down on the tile. The slab of ice slowly sank into the ground. After a second or two, the explorer opened one eye to confirm that no spikes had come out of the ground to impale him. He let out a breath of relief and placed his other foot on the tile as well. He turned back and held out a hand to Winter. "Come on."

Winter ignored the gesture but she did join him on the spacious tile.

"Okay, next stage would be the fish," Nate murmured. "So, it's got to be an aquatic Grimm, like a leviathan."

They continued their way across the maze of tiles. Moving from pictures of dinosaur-Grimm to rat-Grimm. Near the end of the puzzle, they stopped on a picture of a Beringal.

"Okay, now which one?" Nate asked. He spotted tiles with Beowolves, Slinkers, and Ursai but nothing seemed to add up. "I don't get it," Nate shook his head. "Given what we're on now, the next one should be human, but there's no such thing as a human Grimm!"

"Hold on," Winter grabbed Nathan's shoulder. "Look."

There was a tile sitting right on the edge. The picture on it was strange, it had no distinctive facial features but the body shape appeared to be female. The figure was dressed in dark robes and had her hands spread out not unlike Oum in the famous "Last Dining" painting with some sort of intricate crown atop its head.

"What is that?" Nathan's eyes widened.

"I don't know," Winter shook her head. "But it is vaguely human-shaped. Do you think it's the correct tile?"

Nate shrugged. "One way to find out." He carefully stepped on the tile and it sunk into the floor with a satisfying _clunk_. It apparently triggered a mechanism as it sounded like multiple gears turning within the walls. Slowly, the doors of ice opened inward.

"Ha!" Nate shouted triumphantly as he stepped off the tiles.

Winter smirked as she followed him. "It would seem you are not useless after all, Mr. Drake."

"Your gratitude is most appreciated, my lady," Nate gave a mock bow. "But in all seriousness, nice call on that evolution thing."

Winter nodded in smug satisfaction. "I went to Atlas Academy, I was taught to have extensive knowledge in all fields of academics."

Nate rolled his eyes. "It was one compliment, Ice Queen. Don't let it go to your head."

Winter's smirk faded into a glare. "Don't call me Ice Queen."

Nathan brushed off her glare and continued into the next room. Winter followed, her glare still prominent.

The next room was actually quite simple. Just a simple ice bridge over a chasm. Now, typically chasms mean a bottomless pit, but there was, in fact, a bottom. It was actually only a 30-foot drop. Any Huntsman with a halfway decent aura could survive the fall, but it wasn't the drop that concerned the two adventurers.

"Beowolves," Nathan muttered under his breath. There seemed to be an entire pack inside the pit, seemingly just laying around or sniffing for intruders. Thankfully, they weren't sniffing upward.

"They don't know we're here yet," Nathan whispered to Winter. "We can avoid a fight if we keep quiet and slowly make our way over the bridge."

Winter nodded. Drake was arrogant and crude, but even she wanted to avoid a needless fight. So she followed his lead.

Nathan slowly made his way across the bridge, the ice slightly creaked under the pressure but it held. The Beowolves didn't seem to notice.

Winter copied Drakes moves, one step at a time. They made it halfway across the structure when Nate suddenly stuck his hand out behind him. Winter stumbled as she collided with Drake's outstretched hand. Fortunately, the Grimm stayed unaware of their presence.

Nate seemed to ignore Winter's brief loss of balance in favor of observing the monsters below. "Wait, something's wrong…" he mumbled.

Winter seemed to be more focused on how he had still not lowered his hand from her chest. She smacked it away. "Be mindful of where you put your hand, least I remove it from the rest of your arm," she hissed.

Nate rubbed his smacked hand and glared at Winter. "What is your problem?" he tried to keep his voice low.

"You…" her face grew red. "...You threw me off balance, you nearly alerted the Grimm!"

"Are you sure it wasn't because of the heels?" Nathan deadpanned.

"I'm sure," Winter growled. "And is this really the time to criticize my choice of footwear?"

Nate shook his head. "Doesn't matter, look." He gestured to the Beowolf pack below.

Winter tilted her head downwards. The Beowolves had not yet caught on to their presence, but they did seem more riled up now. "I see a pack of monsters that will become quite a nuisance if we do not move!"

Nate grabbed hold of her shoulder and looked her dead in the eye. "But where's the Alpha?"

Winter blinked and looked back down. Where was the Alpha? It was rare to see a pack without one. Winter tried to find a relatively large one but then a small chunk of ice fell from the ceiling and bounced on her head.

Winter rubbed the spot where the ice fell as another ice chip landed by her boot, clattering against the bridge.

Winter was starting to get confused and looked to Drake, hoping for an explanation. Drake looked just as in the dark as her as an ice chip bounced off his shoulder. Wordlessly, the two looked up.

They found the Alpha.

A Beowolf that was at least three times the size of the ones below them snarled as it clung to the ceiling. More pieces of ice fell as its claws dug into the frozen wall. Winter grabbed the hilt of her sword while Nate did what he did best. "Well… There's something you don't see every day."

The Alpha Beowolf released itself from the ceiling and barreled towards the two temporary partners. Neither had any room to dodge as the Alpha crashed into the bridge, the ice structure crumbling apart.

Nate belly-flopped onto the ground while Winter landed on her feet like a true Atlas specialist. She immediately drew her sword and launched herself at the pack.

Nathan groaned as he tried to sit up but he was immediately forced on his back by a pouncing Beowolf. The adventurer gritted his teeth as pushed on the creature's chest, preventing its rapidly snapping jaws from closing in on his neck. With all the gusto he could muster, he applied as much strength as he could into one arm while the other one lowered to grab his pistol. The creature of Grimm was blissfully unaware of this as it continuously tried to maul him. Nate pulled out his gun and put the barrel right underneath the monster's chin.

 _Bang_

The lone Beowolf became limp and fell on top of Drake's supposed descendant. He grunted as he pushed the now dissolving corpse off of him and managed to finally stand up on his feet. He readied his primary weapon for a fight and- whoa.

Nate never really time to see Winter's fighting style in action, he was usually more concerned with not drowning or not being killed by said style. Now, he could see Winter really let loose. His thought? He never knew someone could look so graceful while disemboweling a werewolf-like creature.

Winter brought her sword downwards to slice off the Grimms head before immediately spinning around to bisect another. A Beowolf behind her raised a claw before it was riddled with bullets. Winter turned her glare to a smirking Drake. She decided to ignore him and focus on removing the rest of the Grimm.

"Umm… your welcome?" Nathan sighed, annoyed. He didn't have time to stew in it as he had to roll out of the way of a Beowolf's paw. He steadied his gun as he fired upon a huddled group of the Grimm.

Winter breathed heavily but refused to wipe the sweat off her brow. They were doing remarkably well, all things considered. If things kept going this smoothly, they would only leave with drained aura diminished ammunition. She slashed another Beowolf in two and attempted to carry on when a huge claw slashed down at her. She barely had time to bring up her sword to block before she was sent sliding back. Thankfully, the heels of her shoes provided excellent traction. _Eat your heart out, Drake._ Of course, she would always deny having this petty thought but that's not what she was focusing on right now.

The Atlas specialist stared down the Alpha who snarled at her. She lunged forward. The Alpha brought up its forearms to defend itself and Winter's blade bounced off the bone-armored hide. It lunged forward to bite her but she quickly sidestepped the attack. She swung her sword downward but the Beowolf quickly angled itself so the sword once again only scraped against its armor.

Winter danced around the Grimm, continuously stabbing at various spots, hoping to find a chink in the armor. But the old monsters' defenses were surprisingly dense. After yet another failed attempt at beheading the beast, the alpha sprang into action with a roar. Winter found herself on the receiving end of a monstrous backhand.

Winter flew through the air but quickly righted her trajectory. She landed on the floor perfectly but her momentum was not canceled as she skidded across the ice floor. She stabbed her sword into the ice to slow herself down and eventually came to a stop right next to Drake.

Drake had just finished unloading bullets into a Beowolf's jugular. He turned to see the snarling Alpha pawing at the ground. "Alright, I think that might be the last one."

"It must be quite old," Winter deduced. "It's certainly smarter than all the others. It knew exactly how to defend itself."

Nathan glared quizzically at the abomination against nature till a look of realization dawned on his face. "I've got a plan," he smirked, confidently.

Not taking her eyes off the Beowolf, Winter quirked her eyebrow. "What is it?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Nate screamed as he charged the Grimm.

"That is not a plan!" Winter screeched out.

The Alpha was at first confused at the human suicidley running towards it, but its natural instincts took over as it recognized a challenger for dominance. It roared and charged forward as well.

The two adversaries continued to charge at each other until the Alpha lunged into the air, opening its jaw to bite Drake's head off. Winter was already preparing an explanation as to how she lost her guide to Ironwood when Drake made her eyes widen.

Just before the creature struck, Drake reached down to his belt and grabbed a grenade. In a move only advanced Atlas soldiers were capable of, Nate popped the pin out with his thumb then shoved his hand straight down the monster's gullet. He then jumped off the ground and placed his feet upon the Alpha's chest. Using the Grimm as a springboard, Nathan launched himself backward, pulling his arms out of the Beowolfe's mouth.

The Alpha stood there confused. But it soon found out the disadvantage of being a creature of darkness with no biological needs; no gag reflex.

The dust grenade exploded within the insides of the Alpha, blowing the top half of the Grimm clean off. For a few seconds, the hind legs of a wolf just stood there until they fell over and started to disintegrate.

Nate slid on his back across the ice floor until he reached the legs of Winter. With a grunt, he pushed himself up to see his handiwork. "Yeah!" he pumped his fist before he was kicked in the back of the head by a high heeled boot.

"What the Hell was that?" Winter demanded.

"Give me a second, I'll tell you after this concussion wears off," Nathan grumbled from the floor, rubbing his head.

"Don't tell me that that half-brained suicide attempt was your plan?" Winter glared as she put her hands on her hips.

"It worked, didn't it?" Nate groaned as he sat up.

"It was a miracle it didn't," Winter rolled her eyes. "There was a huge margin of error on multiple accounts. What would you have done if the Grenade went off sooner than expected? What if the Alpha bit your arm off? What if it mauled you before you even had time to grab the grenade in the first place?"

"Well, none of that happened, now did it?" Nathan stood up and dusted himself off. "But thanks for caring so much about my wellbeing."

"Don't flatter yourself," Winter bit out. "I still need you to navigate this maze."

"And you need to navigate this maze because…" Nate gestured for her to continue.

"Classified," Winter replied.

"Walked right into that," Nate muttered under his breath. "Now, let's focus on getting out of this pit."

He made his way over to the other side of the pit. If they wanted to continue, they'd have to get up on this side. He scanned the ice wall up and down. No ridges, ledges, or anything he could climb on. The wall was completely smooth. He walked along the edge, hoping to find something. He had walked a couple of meters when his foot knocked against something that made a _clunk_ sound. His eyes widened in recognition at the sound of metal and got down on a knee before digging through the snow.

"Winter," he called. The specialist walked over to him as he pulled an old grappling hook from the snow. The metal was old and had rust creeping around the edges and was held by a soaked and worn rope, but still looked to be able to hold one or two people without breaking.

"Must have been dropped by a previous search party," Winter observed. That or the other option. But Winter didn't want to go searching through the snow for skeletons to confirm her theory. "Must have been a long time ago too, no one these days carries a regular grappling hook without a firing mechanism."

"No one except yours truly," Nate said smugly. "Those grapple guns are _expensive_ so I've learned how to throw one of these things," he backed a few feet away. "Stand back, I'll get us out of here."

He swung the hook in a circle a few times. He zeroed in on a jutted out stone at the very edge of the pit. Perfect. He threw the hook! It uselessly bounced off the rock and plummeted back into the snow.

"I see that your grappling skills are unparalleled," Winter commented, dryly.

Nate glared at her. "Well, if it's so easy, why don't you try it?" he handed her the rope.

Winter looked at the before shrugging and taking it from Drake. She pulled rope until the hook was in her hand. Mimicking her temporary partner, she spun the hook around a few times before tossing it at the same rock Drake did. The hook perfectly hooked around the stone and gained a hard grip on it. Smirking with satisfaction, Winter turned to drake.

"Shut up," he pouted.

"I didn't say anything," Winter said, innocently.

"You're mocking me… with your eyes."

 **(XXX)**

Sully groaned from within the cell. Seriously, they couldn't spare him a pillow or something? He was interrupted from his attempts at slumber when he heard his cell door opening.

"Sleeping at this hour?" Ironwood asked as the door closed behind him.

"Not a whole lot else to do in here," Sully grunted as he sat up on his cell bed.

"Alright then," Ironwood nodded and pressed a few keys on his scroll. Two compartments opened up in the middle of the room. A table and a chair opposite Sully rose. Ironwood took a seat. "Let's talk."

Sully narrowed his eyes. "About what?"

Ironwood smiled. "Can't two old friends catch up with each other?"

Sully snorted. "I may not have a lot of friends these days, but I'm pretty sure friends don't hold each other hostage."

"We're NOT-'' Ironwood raised his voice before he cut himself off. He let out a sigh. "We are not holding you hostage. This is just a precaution to make sure Drake keeps his word."

"He'll keep his word," Sully said with steel resolve. "He's a good man."

Ironwood shook his head. "I wish I could believe you. These days, there are less and less people I can trust."

Sully studied Ironwood's face before shrugging and turning away. "I guess it doesn't matter now. But if you want to chat with me, you're going to be disappointed. There's nothing to talk about."

Ironwood had a smug grin as he reached into his coat's side pocket and pulled out a box of cigars. He gently tossed them onto the table.

Sully's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Then again, I'm sure I can think of a few new topics." he grinned as he grabbed the box. He pulled a cigar out and stuck it in his mouth. He was just about to light it when he realized he was fireless.

Ironwood chuckled as brought out the lighter they confiscated before handing it to Sully. "You always were addicted to these things, even back when I first joined the Atlas forces."

Sully laughed as he lit the cigar. "Yeah, those were the days. Still can't believe how quickly you climbed the ranks. I had at least ten years on ya and I only ever made it to sergeant. Now, look at you, General Ironwood! Leader of the whole shebang!" He took a long drag before blowing out a puff of smoke. "Hey, is it okay if I smoke this on your oversized Bullhead?"

"The airship is large enough that it won't be a problem." Ironwood waved off. "And your cell has air filters."

Sully snorted. "Mind if I come here when I need to unwind. I could use a smoke session without the kid's complaining."

Ironwood nodded. "Speaking of which, you've found quite the remarkable young man as your partner in crime."

Sully grinned. "Yeah, I found the kid some ten years ago in Vacuo. Pretty spry, but also pretty green. I took him under my wing and taught him all that I know."

"About stealing?" Ironwood asked.

"And fighting," Sully let out another puff of smoke and looked Ironwood dead in the eyes. "Alright, let's cut the bullshit. What do you want, James?"

The general sat there in silence for a moment. "Our scouts confirmed that the mural was destroyed. What destroyed it?"

Sully raised his eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"That's classified information," Ironwood replied, tersely.

Sully leaned back. "Sure, everything's classified with you people. Maybe the info I have is classified too."  
The general slammed his hands on the table as he stood up. "Victor-"

"I don't know, alright!" Sullivan angrily shot back. "Freak avalanche that came out of nowhere."

"We both know that's not true," Ironwood said with a cold glare.

"Do we?" Sullivan stood up as well. "Because if I recall correctly, the very reason I left Atlas was that people kept too many secrets."

"You're trying my patience, Sullivan," Ironwood glared. "I'm only going to ask this once; what happened at that mural?"

Sullivan spat out his cigar. "I may not know what it is I saw, but I know enough to recognize Atlas' name written all over it," He glared right into Ironwood's eyes. "So I'm only going to ask _you_ once; What the _Hell_ did you _do_?"

 **(XXX)**

 **And that's a wrap. So sorry it took so long.**


End file.
